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Monday,Jul 26,2010
Why the Government May Be Wrong on The New ‘Minimum’ Wage
The recent 63.7 percent increase in the national minimum wage, from N11,000 to N17,000 (or is it N18,000?) has gene....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Saturday,Jul 17,2010
Between Octopus Paul And Nigerian Juju Men And Pastors
One of the celebrities thrown up by the just concluded World Cup tournament in South Africa is the German Octopus P....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Sunday,Jul 11,2010
Igboland: When Did Things Really Begin To Fall Apart?
That the level of insecurity in Igboland has reached unacceptable level is no longer news. In virtually all parts o....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Wednesday,Jun 30,2010
Jonathan, Babangida and the Sword of Damocles
In the Sword of Damocles, the Roman politician and philosopher Cicero tells the story of Dionysius II, a king who r....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Wednesday,Jun 30,2010
Letter To “Father No Shaking” On The September 2010 Festival Of Oath-taking In Umuagwu-Aro, Osuh-Owerre, Isi-ala Mbano Local Government Area (LGA), Imo State
Dear Rev. Father, Greetings! I have to address by the above name since it is the name you are commonly kn....
By Odimegwu Onwumere
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Wednesday,Jun 23,2010
Attahiru Jega and the Search for a Nigerian Hero
Nigerians seem to be in constant search for public heroes - competent little messiahs who will not hesitate to put ....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Thursday,Jun 17,2010
The Return of Mallam Ribadu
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the one time strongman of the financial crime buster EFCC, who sneaked out of Nigeria into self....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Thursday,Jun 17,2010
Too Many Captains…
Two major attributes that have been quite easy to discern about President Goodluck Jonathan are: one, he seems to l....
By Ijeoma Nwogwugwu
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Thursday,Jun 10,2010
Should Suspects Be Paraded?
The above question is generating increasing furore among our intellectuals, and ‘beer parlour’ politica....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Thursday,Jun 10,2010
Nigeria: A Two Party System By Legislation?
Perhaps enamoured by the seeming ease with which two dominant political parties trod the political landscape of, at....
By Joel Nwokeoma
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Exchange Programmes
By:
Chinedu Vincent Akuta
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The greatest challenge will be how to raise the standard of education in Nigeria with minimal or no government involvement. Please do not ask me why, because events in and around our educational sector has shown us how serious our government can be when it comes to improving the educational standards. Part of the reason why our “rulers” do not give education the required attention is because some of their children are studying overseas. Many are studying in nearby Ghana and other African countries. This reminds me of a suggestion that I made earlier that all government functionaries should have their children study in Nigeria while they are still in government positions. Exception should be for people on foreign services.
It should be an unpatriotic act to have your children studying abroad while you’re holding a government position. Nigerians should take this matter to the National Assembly and all states Houses of Assembly to pass a law prohibiting children of government functionaries from studying abroad while their parents are still holding government positions. Same should apply to health care. Perhaps a policy in the above direction might bring some seriousness on the part of government officials and thus usher in changes in our education and healthcare system.
Having said the above, I want to propose exchange programmes between the private universities and government universities. I want the 41 private universities, polytechnics, and other privately owned higher institutions to design an exchange programmes particularly for the students of public universities. The idea will be to cross exchange ideas, learning skills, study experiences, share books, journals etc. I want the private universities to take up the challenges of improving the standard of education, by assisting the students of public universities using the mechanism of exchange programmes. On the fallen standard of education in Nigeria, private institutions (universities, polytechnics etc) cooperation with government institutions provides a viable option that can improve the quality of education. Exchange programmes should also be encouraged between government and private owned primary and secondary schools.
As it stands, I appeal for a rescue plan from the private sector. Education is light and knowledge will forever govern ignorance. Ignorance is also a disease. I want the private sector (parents, teachers, non governmental organizations, business community, churches etc) to embark on a massive campaign to raise the culture of reading. Let the private sector do whatever it will take to get Nigerians reading. We need to read more to improve our standards. Let the Nigerian people take this as a challenge to encourage children and youths to read, as this will have a clear and positive effect on academic achievements in school and outside the school. Another fact we need to understand is that, low levels of literacy can lead to poor outcomes amongst students, which in turn can lead to high unemployment, crimes, etc.
Nigerians need to encourage their children and the youths to read more science and technology courses. It gave me serious concern when I learnt that South African government is recruiting mathematics and sciences teachers from Nigeria. This is an area we need most. This is also another brain drain, but again they will remit foreign exchanges back home. In the absence of our oil revenue, remittances from Nigerians abroad are the second largest source of foreign exchange. Though that I will not blame any teacher that leaves Nigeria, but my advise is, let them fashion a way of transferring their foreign experiences back to Nigeria.
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